Malawi News Online (33) - 07/28/97

MALAWI NEWS ONLINE/MALAWI NEWS ONLINE/MALAWI NEWS ONLINE

A fortnightly update of news from
Malawi

Edition # 33 28 July 1997

MALAWI NEWS ONLINE is written by Malawian journalists
in Malawi and brings you the news from their point
of view. It is assembled and edited in Denmark by South
Africa Contact, the former anti-apartheid movement,
publishers of i'Afrika, a quarterly magazine on Southern
Africa.

The fortnightly news updates from Malawi are provided
by our established network of journalists in Southern
Africa. We also distribute ZAMBIA NEWS ONLINE, MOZAMBIQUE
NEWS ONLINE and ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE, and these will
be followed, in the not too distant future, by individual
news updates covering other Southern African countries.

MALAWI NEWS ONLINE is brought to you by a co-operation
between South Africa Contact and Inform, the leading
alternative information network in Denmark.

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In this edition:

1. MULUZI FAILS TO TRIM CABINET

2. MULUZI PARDONS NINE ON DEATH ROW

3. POLICE TO EXTRADITE FRAUDSTER

4. GOVERNMENT DROPS BANDA UK BANK ACCOUNT CASE

5. VENUE SHIFT FOR SADC CONFERENCE

6. GERMANY CUTS AID TO MALAWI

7. CHAKUAMBA ELECTED NEW MALAWI CONGRESS PARTY
PRESIDENT

8. ARMED ROBBERS MURDER BUSINESSMAN

9. POLICE IMPOUND THIRTEEN 90KG BAGS OF MARIJUANA

0. MCP VICE PRESIDENT EYES STATE HOUSE

1. MULUZI FAILS TO TRIM CABINET

President Bakili Muluzi on July 24 announced a bloated
cabinet of 25 ministers and 13 deputy ministers contrary
to recommendations by consultants to trim the cabinet
to 23.

In the new cabinet, Muluzi retained all ministers from
the opposition Alliance for Democracy, and poached
on more, but he dropped three United Democratic Front
ministers from north Malawi who are not members of
parliament. These are Dr George Mtafu, Dr Donton Mkandawire
and Ziliro Chibambo, who previously headed foreign
affairs, education and health. However, in what is
seen as counterproductive on efforts to cut state spending,
Muluzi appointed a team of 13 deputy ministers, one
of the biggest number of deputy ministers even in comparison
to the former government.

New entrants into the cabinet are Sam Mpasu, who was
recently cleared by the high court on charges of corruption
and bribery, and who will head a leaner ministry of
information, previously held by Brown Mpinganjira who
has gone to education. The other is Robson Makuwila
who has been appointed as one of three ministers of
state in the president's office, along with Edda Chitalo
and Bundaunda Phiri.

A number of ministers have been shifted around and these
include Aleke Banda from finance, economic planning
and development who has been moved to agriculture.
Finance, which has been delinked from economic planning
and development, will now be headed by vice president,
Justine Malewezi.

Dr Mapopa Chipeta, from agriculture becomes minister
of foreign affairs, while Dr Matembo Nzunda has been
moved to commerce and industry which was previously
under Chakakala Chaziya who has gone to local government
and sports.

President Bakili Muluzi has pardoned nine people on
the death row and commuted their sentences to life
imprisonment.

The state house press office said Muluzi announced the
decision to a delegation of the London-based Amnesty
International led by its secretary general, Piere Sane.
They had held discussions in Blantyre. "Muluzi
reiterated his belief in human rights and he described
life as a God given right," said the statement.

This is the second time that Muluzi has commuted death
sentences to life imprisonment. During his inauguration
in 1994, he pardoned all convicts on death row and
also commuted their sentences to life imprisonment.
He also abolished several prisons including the notorious
Mikuyu and Dzaleka prisons in south and central Malawi,
respectively.

3. POLICE TO EXTRADITE FRAUDSTER

Fiscal police have said they have located, in his self-imposed
exile, former Petroleum Control Commission financial
controller, Aubrey Chalira, alleged to have defrauded
the commission of about K1 million (US$60,000).

Head of Fiscal police Joseph Aironi, said on July 10
that Chalira would soon be extradited with assistance
from Interpol with whom the Malawi police has been
working hand in hand.

Chalira fled the country in 1995 after some vital documents
believed to have been fished out from one of the firm's
offices were burned in one of the commissions' toilets.
Following the financial scam the commission's board
of directors instituted an inquiry to probe circumstances
surrounding the event. It established that the fire
was aimed at destroying evidence on the K1 million
rip off.

4. GOVERNMENT DROPS BANDA UK BANK ACCOUNT CASE

Government has dropped a case in London against former
head of state Kamuzu Banda over his UK bank accounts
because there is nothing to be gained from it. "Government
was reluctantly forced to conclude that English proceedings,
which were at an early stage, would not yield any recovery,
the Attorney General said in a statement on July 6.
The statement says that much of the K10 million (400,000
pounds sterling) frozen in the accounts would have
been used in paying Banda lawyers in the trial had
government continued with proceedings in the High Court
in London.

The government sought the freezing of Banda's bank accounts
while preparing for proceedings against him for allegedly
diverting money by wrongdoing and breach of trust.
Solicitor General, Steve Matenje said the government
was only allowed to freeze 400,000 pounds while at
the same time Banda's lawyers were authorised to be
paid from the same accounts.

The government started the proceedings in February this
year following investigations which allegedly revealed
that large amounts of money were externalised on or
by instructions of Banda and his former official hostess
Cecilia Kadzamira and her sister, Mary. Banda's lawyers
have applied to the High Court in London seeking an
award of costs and an inquiry into the damages suffered
by Banda and other defendants.

5. VENUE SHIFT FOR SADC CONFERENCE

Almost throwing in the towel and giving in to public
criticism against hosting the forthcoming Southern
African Development Community summit in the bare and
hollow Comesa hall in Blantyre, government has quietly
decided to shift it to a hotel.

Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development,
Aleke Banda confirmed the change in venue of the summit
saying this became necessary because government had
realised it was going to be expensive to carry out
renovations to the Comesa Hall. But unofficial sources
within the organising committee of the summit said
the abrupt change of plans came about because the contractor
hired to do renovations to the hall to make it hospitable
for such an important forum could not do the job in
the short time they were given.

Earlier plans unveiled by Banda were that government
had set aside K15 million (US$1 million) for renovating
the hall which is sited in the Trade Fair grounds in
Blantyre. The unplastered structure, built with funding
from the European Union, stands in very unattractive
surroundings with untended grounds and dried up lawns
and has no adequate parking area for the envisaged
huge numbers of delegates to the summit.

The summit is scheduled for September 8 and is expected
to attract all the 12 heads of state from the grouping
and more than 500 delegates. To overcome the shortage
of suitable accommodation in the city, Banda last month
appealed to the private sector to surrender some of
their guest houses to accommodate the delegates.

With the acute shortage of upmarket accommodation facilities
in Blantyre, Banda said some of the delegates would
have to be accommodated in Zomba and Mangochi, 70 kms
and 200 kms away from Blantyre.

6. GERMANY CUTS AID TO MALAWI

Germany on July 14 announced a 33 percent cut in its
government's financial assistance to Malawi. DR Elin
Horn-Vormsctag, head of the sub-Saharan division in
the ministry of economic co-operation, said the cut
follows a reduction in the German government's budget
for foreign assistance.

Horn-Vormsctag, leading his government's delegation
on aid talks in Malawi, said following the cut in aid,
Germany would give Malawi 33 million DM (about K284
million) under the financial co-operation for the 1997/98
fiscal. He said the cut in aid has not only affected
Malawi but all other developing countries who receive
aid from Germany. He also said the German government
will maintain its technical assistance to Malawi at
about 40 million DM (K344 million) as was the case
last year.

An official in Horn-Vormsctag's delegation said the
cut in aid had come about because of problems at home,
one of which was unemployment and the fact that some
people do not pay tax. In his speech, Malawi Economic
Planning and Development Minister, Aleke Banda, asked
for external debt relief from its multilateral and
bilateral financing agencies.

7. CHAKUAMBA ELECTED NEW MALAWI CONGRESS PARTY
PRESIDENT

The man who languished for 13 years in jail at the hands
of the Malawi Congress Party regime, Gwanda Chakuamba,
on July 22 caused upsets at the MCP convention by succeeding
his jailer, Kamuzu Banda as new party president. Chakuamba,
who had earlier championed the cause of a merger with
the Alliance for Democracy, which was shelved at the
forum, was swept into power by a staggering 426 votes
cast by the delegates against his main rival John Tembo's
129 votes.

Tembo, whose stance over the thorny issue of the merger
has remained elusive and has been seen as fomenting
anti-merger sentiments, now becomes the vice president
of the party. Dr Peter Chiwona, a new name in MCP's
upper echelons, took over the position of secretary
general.

Retired medical practitioner, Dr Hetherwick Ntaba, who
performed a sterling job as party publicity chief,
was elected as treasurer general. Former career broadcaster,
James Chimera becomes publicity chief while former
secretary general, Lovemore Munlo was elected party
legal advisor.

8. ARMED ROBBERS MURDER BUSINESSMAN

A gang of armed robbers on July 27, murdered a Blantyre
grocer, Faction Pandama, after robbing him of cash
and an assortment of grocery items. Police said about
six gunmen broke into the deceased's grocery store
and shot him as he tried to scare them away. They said
the robbers left with cash and property worth more
than K30,000 (US$2,000).

After the incident, neighbours and relatives rushed
Pandama to hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Blantyre police said as of July 28, no one had been
apprehended in connection with the incident but that
investigations were still under way to bring the culprits
to book.

This is the biggest catch of marijuana so far in the
district, according to the district's police chief,
Maxwell Kachitamanja. He said police were tipped off
by their colleagues in Nkhota-kota district, north
of Salima, that a vehicle loaded with marijuana was
travelling towards Salima. Police said they arrested
four of the five people in the vehicle.

Nkhota-kota and Mzimba districts in central and north
Malawi, respectively, are believed to be the source
of most of the marijuana grown in Malawi. From these
districts the stuff is shipped to Blantyre from where
it finds its way out of the country via Zimbabwe.
A number of Zimbabwean truck drivers have been apprehended
in Malawi in connection with transporting the illegal
drug.

10. MCP VICE PRESIDENT EYES STATE HOUSE

Newly-elected opposition Malawi Congress Party president,
Gwanda Chakuamba, has openly declared that as leader
of the party, his ultimate aim was to rule the country.

Addressing his first rally since he was swept to the
party's leadership, Chakuamba, who endorsed his full
support for the merger with the Alliance for Democracy
saying it was the only winning formula for the 1999
elections, declared that he was ready to be voted out
of office if the majority of the members of MCP were
not comfortable with the proposal to work hand in hand
with Aford.

He said that given the support for the merger from the
grassroot level, his party and Aford, which control
the centre and north, whose seats outnumber those of
the south where the ruling UDF holds sway, would be
assured of victory.

Chakuamba challenged that unless there was divine intervention,
the UDF could not win a seat in the north. He, however,
bemoaned the deceitful behaviour of some of his party
members whom he accused of hypocrisy.